Recent Presentations2021
April
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting
College Students Responding to Sexuality-Based Items: A Differential Test Function Analysis
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
Surveys are often intended to collect data across a swath of individuals yet sometimes the items favor certain respondents over others. Differential test functioning (DTF) analysis helps us understand if there are underlying latent characteristics that may affect the way a group of individuals responds to items. This study sought to examine if differences existed in the responses to items pertaining to college studentsâ?? feeling safe and supported regarding their sexual orientation. Results indicate that there appears to be differences in an item for queer first year respondents, but no differences when looking at senior students. More research is needed to precisely understand which items are functioning differently.
Full version
Disciplinary Differences in Faculty Emphasis on Deep Approaches to Learning
Hiller, Stephen C.; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
This large-scale study compares how Biglan and Holland conceptualizations of academic disciplines in their ability to explain differences in faculty emphasis on deep approaches to learning in their courses. To examine these differences, several multiple regressions models are conducted 6,500 faculty and instructor responses to the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), using effect coding to better compare disciplinary categories. Analyses examining disciplines using Biglanâ??s three dimensions or Hollandâ??s theory suggest differences within each conceptualization that largely align with previous research. Comparisons between these two conceptualizations, while showing some overlap, indicate that Biglanâ??s dimensions explain slightly more variation, with a slightly greater range of magnitude in some effect sizes. These findings underscore for researchers, faculty, and educational developers the need to examine disciplinary effects on teaching practices while also suggesting for researchers the need to appropriately align disciplinary conceptualizations with their area of study.
Full version
Two Sides of a Coin: Patterns of Student & Faculty Participation in High-Impact Practices
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
The higher education community continues to perpetuate high-impact practices as means for improving student success. Yet, challenges exist for assuring all students participate equitably in these beneficial educational experiences; one inhibiting factor may be a lack of faculty support. We examined the responses from 12,147 faculty and 28,504 seniors at 83 institutions to better understand the relationship between faculty who emphasize or participate in high-impact practices and students who do participate. Results indicate potential inequities in faculty participation in engaging students in high-impact practices. Faculty values of importance in participation relates to whether they participate reveling implications for future conversations about faculty hiring and development.
Full version
March
AAC&U Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success
Enhancing career-preparation equity for international students
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Zhu, Yihan; Gopal, Kriti
AAC&U Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, 2021, March.
In this session, we will explore the unique challenges of international students with respect to support for career-related skill development and experiences with career services on campus. We will present findings from quantitative and qualitative responses of more than 4,500 senior international students over the past five years at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities. Through discussion, participants will learn about international studentsâ?? confidence in using skills and abilities essential to their future careers and how institutions can create new career services supports for this large group of minoritized students.
Full version
February
Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience
Sense of Belonging and the First-Year Experience
Cole, J. and Kinzie, J.
Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience, 2021, February.
With the turmoil and uncertainty of this past year, a students? sense of belonging is now more critical than ever. This presentation will use NSSE and BCSSE-NSSE combined data to highlight the important connections between sense of belonging, student expectations, intention to persist, quality of relationships with advisors, faculty, and other students, academic engagement, as well as other important aspects of the first-year student experience. This session will include opportunities for discussion and reflection, as well as include current institutional examples of data use.
Full version
Overseas Chinese Association for Institutional Research (OCAIR)
Understanding and Improving Survey Data Quality: Key Insights from NSSE
Sarraf, S.
Overseas Chinese Association for Institutional Research (OCAIR), 2021, February.
What has NSSE learned over the past ten years related to understanding and improving survey data quality? This presentation covers various topics, including the effect of survey incentives, learning management systems, and campus promotions on survey response, the importance of optimally formatting long surveys for small screen devices, the effectiveness of panel data collection, and how to evaluate response rates.
Full version
January
Association of American College & Universities Annual Meeting
The Influence of Faculty on Marginalized Student Participation in High-Impact Practices
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
Association of American College & Universities Annual Meeting, 2021, January.
As creators and facilitators of high-impact practices, understanding how faculty promote or inhibit student participation is integral in continuing to equitably promote their benefits. Data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) paired with data from the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) show differences in faculty participation in high-impact practices, the importance faculty place on student participation, and how these factors impact student participation. We will share findings from 83 diverse institutions to start a conversation about the faculty labor associated with high-impact practices and ways to increase equity in student participation of high-impact practices.
Full version
2020
November
Association for the Study of Higher Education
A Quasi-Experimental Multilevel Study Examining High-Impact Practices and Deep Approaches to Learning
Fassett, Kyle T.; Haeger, Heather; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
High-impact practice research often focuses on improving student persistence and academic achievement with less of an emphasis on the development of student learning processes. Further, many studies historically center majority populations in research due to sample size restrictions or methodological procedures. This study uses national survey data to examine over 347,000 seniors? experiences at more than 1,100 four-year colleges and universities with high-impact practices and students? reported learning processes. A hierarchical linear model with propensity scores and effect codes show the relationship between six high impact practices and students? learning processes while de-centering motivating factors and majority populations. Findings indicate both service-learning and learning communities promoted the outcomes under investigation with mixed results among the others. Differences emerged by race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability status. We broadly discuss implications for higher education and future research.
Full version
Difficult Discourse and Critical Pedagogies: A Large-Scale Mixed-Methods Exploration of Faculty Practice
Hurtado, Sarah; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Sisaket, Lesley; Washington, Sylvia
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
Using critical pedagogy as our framework, this study?s purpose is to explore faculty members? ability to engage in difficult discourse with their students and their use of related critical pedagogies. The findings come from a large-scale multi-institution mixed-methods study to provide guidance for faculty to participate in this work.
Full version
Faculty Use of Collaborative Learning and Approaches to Learning: Examining Social Aspects of Online Learning
Hiller, Stephen; Nelson Laird, Thomas
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
This large-scale study expands knowledge of online teaching by comparing faculty practices around collaborative learning and deep approaches to learning in online and in-person courses. Findings indicate that online faculty emphasize deep approaches more than in-person, but use collaborative learning less. Implications for faculty and researchers are discussed.
Full version
Trial and Error: Socialization?s Failure to Teach Us How to Teach
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Hurtado, Sarah; Palmer, Dajanae; McCoy-Simmons, Casey
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
Socialization is a major component to faculty development, but without intentional direction it can fail to produce effective educators. The purpose of this large-scale mixed-methods study is to explore teaching influences, missed opportunities to prepare faculty for handling challenging teaching situations, and ways we can improve the socialization process. Results highlight the importance of faculty experiences as undergraduate and graduate students, the value of professional associations and conference participation, and the great range in faculty desires for professional development as educators. Potential implications include a focus on early socialization experiences, encouraging the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and providing equitable opportunities to support vulnerable populations.
Full version
POD Network Annual Conference
Belonging, teaching environments, & grading: An exploration of faculty emotion
Fassett, Kyle; Nelson Laird, Thomas; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Strickland, Joe
POD Network Annual Conference, 2020, November.
The session provides an overview of faculty members? sense of belonging to their institutions, their sense of supportive teaching environments, and their thoughts about grading. Findings from our large-scale, multi-institutional study help faculty developers and other administrators better understand faculty members and how these affective constructs vary by faculty sub-groups. Participants will be invited to join in a conversation about the results and how the study?s findings could lead to providing better support to faculty members in their varied roles on college campuses.
Full version
Navigating difficult discourse: Understanding faculty strategies for challenging teaching situations
Hurtado, Sarah; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Sisaket, Lesley; Washington, Sylvia
POD Network Annual Conference, 2020, November.
Using critical pedagogy as a guide, we illuminate how educators can approach teaching in a way that humanizes students and encourages the examination of oppressive practices and ideologies through discourse centered on difficult topics. Presenters will offer insights from a large-scale mixed-methods study of faculty preparation for dealing with difficult situations in their courses and supporting students with complex concerns. This session will provide evidence-based practices and strategies to support the work of faculty and faculty developers in dealing with difficult situations involving incivility, disclosure of sensitive information, sexual assault, mental health, and other challenging topics.
Full version
No one taught me to teach: Preparation for challenging situations
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Hurtado, Sarah; McCoy-Simmons, Casey; Palmer, Dajanae
POD Network Annual Conference, 2020, November.
Socialization is often the mechanism through which faculty acquire knowledge of teaching behaviors, but teaching-related training can have a powerful impact on practice. This session will provide evidence-based practices and strategies to support the work of educational developers by sharing results from a large-scale, multi-institution mixed methods study asking faculty about influences on their teaching, examples of teaching-related training that has been useful, and training they wish they?d had. We will additionally share strategies faculty have used and how prepared faculty feel to deal with difficult situations in their courses such as student incivility and controversial events on campus.
Full version
October
ACUHO-I Academic Initatives
Revisiting the Impact of LLCs on Student Engagement and Success
Fosnacht, Kevin, Gonyea, Robert M., Fassett, Kyle T., & Graham, P.
ACUHO-I Academic Initatives, Virtual, 2020, October.
Campus housing has changed markedly in recent years, prompting questions about its impact and the benefits of living-learning communities (LLCs) in particular. Sponsored by an ACUHO-I research grant, we surveyed a diverse, multi-campus sample of residents to study the relationships between LLC participation, engagement, perceived gains in learning and development, and persistence. Results affirm LLCs promote engagement in expected ways, but also point to areas for improvement. Implications for practice will be discussed.
Full version
ACUHO-I Business Operations Conference
Roommate Assignments: Managing The Process and Supporting Students of Color
Gonyea, Robert M., Graham, Polly, Fosnacht, Kevin, & Fassett, Kyle T.
ACUHO-I Business Operations Conference, Virtual, 2020, October.
Getting a roommate is one of the first milestones of a student?s campus experience. In the past decade, the rise of social media and online roommate-matching sites has changed how students find roommates, and the proportion of incoming students choosing their preferred roommate has increased. Lately, however, multiple institutions moved to requiring incoming students to have institutionally-assigned roommates in the hope of increasing cross-cultural interactions. We investigated this assertion using data from 76 schools participating in an ACUHO-I sponsored study. Results show that preventing students from choosing their own roommates is not an effective method of increasing interactional diversity. We also discovered that the policies can have negative consequences for students of color. Considering these findings, the NSSE research team makes recommendations for institutions.
Full version
Assessment Institute
All NSSE session recordings from the 2020 Assessment Institute are now available for viewing.
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
All NSSE staff and related session recordings from the 2020 Assessment Institute hosted by IUPUI, are now available for viewing.
- 05A Plenary Session and Panel Discussion
Teresa Leyba Ruiz, Glendale Community College; Stephen P. Hundley, IUPUI, Keston H. Fulcher, James Madison University; Natasha Jankowski, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and NILOA; Verna F. Orr, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and NILOA; Hamsa Marikar, Watermark
- 07B* Advancing Institutional Assessment: Lessons from Excellence in Assessment 2020 Designees
Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); Frank Hall, Northwestern State University of Louisiana; Kristen Springer Dreyfus, East Carolina University (ECU); and Rebecca Lewis and Diane Waryas Hughey, The University of Texas at Arlington - 08D Dealing with Tough Moments: Assessing Faculty Preparation for Teaching Challenges
Kyle T. Fassett and Allison BrckaLorenz, Indiana University-Bloomington; and Sarah S. Hurtado, University of Denver - 09O NSSE?s 3rd Decade: Synthesizing Contributions and Highlighting New Emphases in Assessment and Student Engagement
Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); Robert Gonyea and Alexander McCormick, Indiana University-Bloomington - 12A Assessing HIP Quality: Evidence from the Literature and Students? Experience
Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); Brendan Duggan, Robert Gonyea, Alexander McCormick, and Samantha Silberstein, Indiana University-Bloomington - 13A Assessing the Faculty Role in High-Impact Practices
Kyle T. Fassett, Allison BrckaLorenz, and Thomas F. Nelson Laird, Indiana University-Bloomington - 14J Assessment with the Improvement of Student Learning as the End Goal
Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); Kathleen Gorski, Waubonsee Community College; Kathleen Gorski, Natasha Jankowski, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); and Monica Stitt-Bergh, University of Hawai?I at M?noa - 15C Developing Culturally Responsive Multiple Assessments of Student Learning in Diversity-Inclusion-Social Justice (DISJ) Core Courses and National Survey Results (CECE and NSSE) to Advance Campus Conversations
Jesse Mills, Carole Huston, Paula Krist, and Antonieta Mercado, University of San Diego - 16B A Conceptual Framework and Strategies for Examining High-Impact Practices
Kyle T. Fassett, Indiana University-Bloomington - 18A Equity and Inclusivity in the Assessment of High-Impact Practices
Heather Haeger, California State University, Monterey Bay; and Allison BrckaLorenz, Indiana University-Bloomington - 20D Better Together: How Student Learning Outcomes Assessment and Faculty Development Can Partner to Strengthen Student Success
Pat Hutchings, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and Bay View Alliance (BVA); and Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA)
Assessing the Faculty Role in High-Impact Practices
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
High-impact practices are effective educational practices leveraged to improve student outcomes, and often faculty members are key to their facilitation. This session examines faculty roles in emphasizing students? participation and engaging students in these practices. We will share characteristics of faculty who encourage and partake in these activities with an emphasis on assessment practices for gathering more information about faculty experiences with high-impact practices. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from one another through sharing their own challenges and successes in measuring faculty involvement in high-impact practices and how they cultivate a culture of high-impact experiences on campus.
Full version
Dealing with tough moments: Assessing faculty preparation for teaching challenges
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Hurtado, Sarah
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
Faculty are increasingly placed in situations where they have to navigate difficult teaching situations (student incivility, disclosure of sensitive information, controversial events, etc.) and challenging conversations with students (sexual assault, racism, mental health, etc.). As such, it is important to examine faculty preparation for managing such situations, what strategies they implement when they encounter these concerns, and what related training they wish they had received. Findings from a large-scale quantitative and qualitative study of teaching challenges will guide a discussion about assessing and supporting faculty efforts to navigate difficult teaching situations through professional development programming.
Full version
Equity and Inclusivity in the Assessment of High-Impact Practices
Heager, Heather; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
As we seek to assess what works and what needs improvement in High-Impact Practices (HIPs), it is essential that we critically examine our assessment strategies and methodologies. Many assessment plans inadvertently overlook the experiences of diverse student populations and only focus on large, aggregate data that reflects the experiences of traditionally privileged, majority students. This session will focus on how to conduct more inclusive assessment, including specific strategies for: creating more inclusive survey questions, how to assess the experiences of small populations in order to improve the experiences of small populations, more equitable quantitative methods, and democratically engaged assessment strategies.
Full version
Survey Inclusivity: Centering Minoritized Groups in Survey Design
Priddie, Christen; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
The emergence of critical quantitative methodologies emphasizes the importance of using race-conscious approaches to highlight the centrality of race in student experiences, as a neutral approach can support a deficit framing. This session explores why it is important to center racially minoritized groups in survey design in order to move toward more equitable assessments of their experiences. Discussion will focus on an example of intentionally centering Black college student experiences in a quantitative study of collaborative learning and perceptions of campus climate with tips and strategies for participants to center racially minoritized voices in their own assessments.
Full version
NACADA Annual Conference
How Do We Know Advising Is Done Well? Using NACADA Core Competencies to Assess Advising
Cole, James & Kinzie, Jillian
NACADA Annual Conference, 2020, October.
This sessions suggests how institutions can use NSSE & the Advising Module to:
* consider advising practice overall (are students experiencing quality advising to support learning, engagement and persistence?),
* assess the impact of advising aligned with NACADA standards,
* investigate differences in advising experiences by race/ethnicity, first generation status, gender identity, and disability status for their students, and
* determine if groups of students for example, those earning lower grades or who have lower intentions to return differ in their advising experiences.
View the recorded presentation
Full version
New insights into faculty advising: An overview of national patterns and trends
Fassett, Kyle; Woodlee, Kara M.; BrckaLorenz, Allison
NACADA Annual Conference, Virtual, 2020, October.
This session provides an overview of faculty advisors across the U.S. using a large-scale data-set from the 2019 administration of the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE). Presenters will share survey findings including an overview of the national landscape of faculty advisors, what faculty tend to emphasize during the advising process, and what can be done to support faculty in their roles as advisors. Participants will be invited to share their experiences collaborating between faculty and advising units. Implications for attendees will be highlighted through a large group discussion.?
Full version
Southern Association for Institutional Research
High School Disrupted: First-Year Expectations of 2020 High School Graduates
Cole, J. S., & Kinzie, J.
Southern Association for Institutional Research, Virtual, 2020, October.
The COVID pandemic left no part of education untouched. Spring 2020 was clearly a dramatic shift for high schools, teachers, and students. With little online learning experience, this is the first entering class with increased responsibility for directing their own learning. This session highlights survey findings from thousands of 2020 high school graduates entering college. The study examines their high school learning experiences, college expectations and preparedness, as well as their feeling prepared to taking future online courses. The presenters will facilitate discussion among the participants about what we have collectively learned and how this can inform future plans.
Full version
June
ACUHO-I 2020 Virtual Summit
Campus Housing, Student Engagement and Persistence
Gonyea, Robert; Fosnacht, Kevin; Graham, Polly; Fassett, Kyle
ACUHO-I 2020 Virtual Summit, 2020, June.
For the past three years, a team of researchers from the National Survey of Student Engagement has been studying the impact of residence life on first-year and sophomore students enrolled at 76 residential campuses. This session will overview their findings and make recommendations to improve practice. Topics covered include student engagement, living-learning programs, roommate selection, and persistence.
Full version
May
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum
Lost at the crossing? Tips for assessing intersectional experiences
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Fassett, Kyle T.; Kirnbauer, Tom; Washington, Sylvia
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, 2020, May.
Faculty and administrators are often tasked with educating the whole student upon their arrival at college, so it is important to understand ways to assess the whole student. Often student demographics and characteristics are examined one at a time such as by examining differences by racial/ethnic, gender, or other known influences on the student experience. Disaggregating data in this way, allows us to better understand how different students understand and participate in their environment. This poster provides an overview of four different examples to better examine small populations with attention to intersections of identity.
Full version
Person-centered approaches to inclusive data analysis
BrckaLorenz, A., Kirnbauer, T., & Nelson Laird, T.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, New Orleans, LA., 2020, May.
Demographic questions are critical to our understanding of student and faculty experiences, allowing us to learn about marginalized subpopulations, find areas of inequity, and close gaps in achievement. Although this work is necessary, it does present challenges for critical and inclusive approaches to data analysis. Person-centered approaches, grouping people based on similar experiences or outcomes, allow for more nuanced stories of experiences. To illustrate the benefits of this approach, facilitators will guide participants through a series of examples using person-centered explorations, unpacking the challenges and possible solutions for using such methods for more critical and inclusive quantitative analyses and reporting.
Full version
What's next for student engagement and institutional assessment
Kinzie, J.; BrckaLorenz, A.; Gonyea, R.; Kirnbauer, T.; Sarraf, S.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, 2020, May.
Over the past 20 years, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) has helped institutional researchers gain insight into institutional quality. Further, a shifting higher education landscape requires institutional researchers to reconsider how assessment is conducted. NSSE continues to search for innovative ways to understand student engagement and serve as a valuable assessment tool for institutions. In this session, we will focus on three areas that impact institutional assessment: changing student demographics, developments in teaching and learning, and innovative approaches to assessment. The session will conclude with an active discussion with participants about the trends and possibilities at their institutions.
Full version
NAFSA 2020 Annual Conference & Expo
Senior international students' perceptions of gains while attending U.S. colleges
Oktafiga, D.; BrckaLorenz, A.
NAFSA 2020 Annual Conference & Expo, St. Louis, MO, 2020, May.
Using the 2015-2017 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data from senior college students (n=13,950), this study explores the variations of senior international students? perceptions of gains while attending 1,029 U.S. colleges/universities. Results indicate that seniors from the African Sub-Saharan region gained the most in terms of academic and personal skills while seniors from Canada perceived gains the least.
Full version
April
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting
A multi-institutional study of teaching development opportunities and faculty practice
Fassett, K.; BrckaLorenz, A.; Hiller, S.; Nelson Laird, T.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Research on faculty teaching development is robust, with small-scale research studies on specific teaching development experiences or practices in particular fields. To contextualize the myriad of teaching development efforts available to faculty, this large-scale multi-institution study of nearly 4,500 faculty seeks to broaden our understandings of who participates in teaching development practices, how their participation relates to their institutional environments, and how their participation connects to use of effective teaching practices. Results show there are some notable trends by field, identity, the type of courses taught, and institutional characteristics. The overview of professional development participation in this study gives strength to positive findings from smaller-scale research studies and provides a solid base for more specific studies of these practices.
Full version
Are Black women faculty and Women of Color faculty synonymous?
Priddie, C.; Palmer, D.; Silberstein, S.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Black women faculty in the professoriate are often lumped into broader women of color categories when examining their experiences in academia. However, women of color are not a monolith and their experiences should be examined with disaggregation. The current study examined the time allocation of Black women faculty in relation to other women of color faculty to assess whether narratives compiling all women of color faculty together are appropriate. Results showed that Black women faculty differ in how they allocate their time in relation to their women of color counterparts. Our findings suggest that studies conducted aggregating the stories of women of color are not portraying the unique experience Black women faculty are facing.
Full version
Classifying higher education institutions by their general education requirements
Holcombe, E.; Nelson Laird, T.; Kwon, J.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
General Education (GE) curricula specify requirements, most often fulfilled through coursework, that undergraduate students need to satisfy in addition to and often preceding a specialized major or program. Due to the decentralized nature of the American higher education system and lack of national requirements or guidelines, however, GE requirements vary from one institution to another. This exploratory study investigates patterns of GE requirements among a selection of 154 institutions and determines whether and how institutions could be grouped or classified by their GE requirements. Our five-dimension typology is parsimonious and meaningfully distinguishes between GE patterns giving us insightful information about the values and goals of institutions that are not communicated through our traditional categorizations.
Full version
Collegial and departmental support matters: An exploration of teaching cultures and practice
Strickland, J.; Hengtgen, K.; BrckaLorenz, A.; Nelson Laird, T.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2020, April.
Even though many colleges and universities are increasingly supporting teaching and learning centers, SoTL, faculty learning communities, and other evidence-based teaching practices, uncertainty still remains regarding the impact of these practices and programs on quality student learning. Often colleges and universities simply give ?lip service to the idea? of good teaching, and yet lack organizational commitments and structures to truly support teaching. Using a large-scale, multi-institutional study of teaching cultures, this study explores faculty perceptions of commitment to quality teaching and faculty perceptions of departmental and institutional support for teaching. The results carry implications for departmental and institutional initiatives in support of teaching and the improvement of pedagogical practice towards equitable college student learning.
Full version
Developing transferable skills for the public good
Kirnbauer, T.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Transferable skills are crucial for undergraduates to be prepared to enter the workforce after college. Previous research has shown how effective educational approaches enhance student learning. There is, however, limited research that understands how the emphasis on transferable skills relates to the value of deep approaches to student learning. This paper analyzes how faculty emphasis of transferable skills, through analytical writing and problem-solving, is related to deep approaches to learning in higher education. Data come from a large-scale, multi-institutional study that surveys faculty at four-year institutions. Findings indicate that the intentional development of transferable skills has a positive relationship with emphases on deep approaches to learning. The study reinforces the importance of collaboration between multiple stakeholders to foster student learning.
Full version
Examining the relationship between faculty development opportunities and teaching practices
Fassett, K.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Teaching is arguably the lifeblood of higher education as students enroll in higher education institutions to learn new information. Faculty often partake in developmental opportunities that seek to improve their pedagogical practices and the student experience. Seeing the importance in understanding teaching, this study uses a multi-institution data set to examine the relationship between development opportunities and faculty use of effective teaching practices and course goals. Findings indicate that informal practices including discussing teaching with colleagues, speaking with students beyond course evaluations about classroom practices, and reading pedagogy books increased use of effective teaching practices. These findings have implications for faculty developers coordinating teaching development opportunities, administrators investing funding in development, and faculty who are looking to change their practices.
Full version
March
AAC&U's Diversity, Equity, and Student Success Conference
"Step it up": Increasing LGBTQ+ inclusivity in and out of class
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Duran, Antonio; Haeger, Heather; Velasquez, Selena
AAC&U's Diversity, Equity, and Student Success Conference, 2020, March.
Creating a positive campus climate for LGBTQ+ folx requires efforts both in-and out-of-class. The lack of representation/visibility of diverse experiences can be detrimental for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. To frame the discussion of LGBTQ+ inclusive courses and campuses, this session will utilize analyses from a large-scale, multi-institution quantitative and qualitative data set. This study examined student perceptions of the inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues in curricula and the relationship to other forms of engagement. We use individual?s write-in responses along with scholarship to guide an organic dialogue where participants share their experiences as well as learn strategies to bring back to their own communities.
Full version
ACPA-College Student Affairs Educators International Convention
Including mental wellness: A more holistic view of student success
Washington, S.; Brandon, J.; Holmes, B.; BrckaLorenz, A.
ACPA-College Student Affairs Educators International Convention, 2020, March.
To better support diverse student populations, this study uses large-scale, multi-institution survey data that focuses on students? mental wellness. Participants in this session will discuss the relationship that race and gender have on students? mental wellness, explore how adverse feelings affect student success, and gain insight into students? awareness of how to get help. Implications will focus on holistic and proactive solutions.
Full version
Student Living Arrangements: An Exploration of Marginalized Identities
Fassett, Kyle T.; Gonyea, Robert M.; Graham, Polly A.; Fosnacht, Kevin
ACPA-College Student Affairs Educators International Convention, Nashville, TN, 2020, March.
While past research found on-campus living to benefit student success, recent studies find mixed support, particularly for marginalized groups. This study focuses on first-year and sophomore students of color, LGBQ+ students, gender non-binary students, and students with disabilities, analyzing where they live as related to a variety of outcomes. Data come from 76 residential colleges and universities that participated in NSSE during 2018. Results show differences in where students report living and students? engagement and perceptions of belongingness and safety in their living communities.
Full version
February
ACUHO-I State of the Profession
Campus Housing, Student Engagement and Persistence
Gonyea, Robert; Fosnacht, Kevin
ACUHO-I State of the Profession, New Orleans, LA, 2020, February.
This presentation summarizes recent research examining the direct and indirect relationships of first-year and sophomore students' living arrangements on student engagement and persistence.
Full version
January
Association of American Colleges & Universities Annual Meeting
Student engagement and institutional assessment: Current trends and future possibilities
McCormick, A., Kinzie, J., BrckaLorenz, A., Gonyea, R., Sarraf, S.
Association of American Colleges & Universities Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2020, January.
With the National Survey of Student Engagement marking its 20th year, we invite participants to explore the trends and possibilities of engagement as a lens for examining institutional quality. This session, conducted as a research town hall, will focus on three broad areas:
1. Changing demographics?What are the emerging demographics on your campus? How will new kinds of students challenge and shape what we know about engagement?
2. Developments in teaching and learning?Do current measures of engagement adequately cover what is essential to the improvement of student learning? What new forms of engagement should we assess?
3. Approaches to assessment?What trends should a large-scale survey assessment project consider over the next decade to facilitate evidence-informed improvement?
After briefly introducing each topic, the presenters will facilitate an active discussion with participants about the trends and possibilities at their institutions and in higher education overall.
Full version
College Students Responding to Sexuality-Based Items: A Differential Test Function Analysis
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
Surveys are often intended to collect data across a swath of individuals yet sometimes the items favor certain respondents over others. Differential test functioning (DTF) analysis helps us understand if there are underlying latent characteristics that may affect the way a group of individuals responds to items. This study sought to examine if differences existed in the responses to items pertaining to college studentsâ?? feeling safe and supported regarding their sexual orientation. Results indicate that there appears to be differences in an item for queer first year respondents, but no differences when looking at senior students. More research is needed to precisely understand which items are functioning differently.
Full version
Disciplinary Differences in Faculty Emphasis on Deep Approaches to Learning
Hiller, Stephen C.; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
This large-scale study compares how Biglan and Holland conceptualizations of academic disciplines in their ability to explain differences in faculty emphasis on deep approaches to learning in their courses. To examine these differences, several multiple regressions models are conducted 6,500 faculty and instructor responses to the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), using effect coding to better compare disciplinary categories. Analyses examining disciplines using Biglanâ??s three dimensions or Hollandâ??s theory suggest differences within each conceptualization that largely align with previous research. Comparisons between these two conceptualizations, while showing some overlap, indicate that Biglanâ??s dimensions explain slightly more variation, with a slightly greater range of magnitude in some effect sizes. These findings underscore for researchers, faculty, and educational developers the need to examine disciplinary effects on teaching practices while also suggesting for researchers the need to appropriately align disciplinary conceptualizations with their area of study.
Full version
Two Sides of a Coin: Patterns of Student & Faculty Participation in High-Impact Practices
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
The higher education community continues to perpetuate high-impact practices as means for improving student success. Yet, challenges exist for assuring all students participate equitably in these beneficial educational experiences; one inhibiting factor may be a lack of faculty support. We examined the responses from 12,147 faculty and 28,504 seniors at 83 institutions to better understand the relationship between faculty who emphasize or participate in high-impact practices and students who do participate. Results indicate potential inequities in faculty participation in engaging students in high-impact practices. Faculty values of importance in participation relates to whether they participate reveling implications for future conversations about faculty hiring and development.
Full version
Enhancing career-preparation equity for international students
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Zhu, Yihan; Gopal, Kriti
AAC&U Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, 2021, March.
In this session, we will explore the unique challenges of international students with respect to support for career-related skill development and experiences with career services on campus. We will present findings from quantitative and qualitative responses of more than 4,500 senior international students over the past five years at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities. Through discussion, participants will learn about international studentsâ?? confidence in using skills and abilities essential to their future careers and how institutions can create new career services supports for this large group of minoritized students.
Full version
Sense of Belonging and the First-Year Experience
Cole, J. and Kinzie, J.
Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience, 2021, February.
With the turmoil and uncertainty of this past year, a students? sense of belonging is now more critical than ever. This presentation will use NSSE and BCSSE-NSSE combined data to highlight the important connections between sense of belonging, student expectations, intention to persist, quality of relationships with advisors, faculty, and other students, academic engagement, as well as other important aspects of the first-year student experience. This session will include opportunities for discussion and reflection, as well as include current institutional examples of data use.
Full version
Understanding and Improving Survey Data Quality: Key Insights from NSSE
Sarraf, S.
Overseas Chinese Association for Institutional Research (OCAIR), 2021, February.
What has NSSE learned over the past ten years related to understanding and improving survey data quality? This presentation covers various topics, including the effect of survey incentives, learning management systems, and campus promotions on survey response, the importance of optimally formatting long surveys for small screen devices, the effectiveness of panel data collection, and how to evaluate response rates.
Full version
The Influence of Faculty on Marginalized Student Participation in High-Impact Practices
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
Association of American College & Universities Annual Meeting, 2021, January.
As creators and facilitators of high-impact practices, understanding how faculty promote or inhibit student participation is integral in continuing to equitably promote their benefits. Data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) paired with data from the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) show differences in faculty participation in high-impact practices, the importance faculty place on student participation, and how these factors impact student participation. We will share findings from 83 diverse institutions to start a conversation about the faculty labor associated with high-impact practices and ways to increase equity in student participation of high-impact practices.
Full version
A Quasi-Experimental Multilevel Study Examining High-Impact Practices and Deep Approaches to Learning
Fassett, Kyle T.; Haeger, Heather; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
High-impact practice research often focuses on improving student persistence and academic achievement with less of an emphasis on the development of student learning processes. Further, many studies historically center majority populations in research due to sample size restrictions or methodological procedures. This study uses national survey data to examine over 347,000 seniors? experiences at more than 1,100 four-year colleges and universities with high-impact practices and students? reported learning processes. A hierarchical linear model with propensity scores and effect codes show the relationship between six high impact practices and students? learning processes while de-centering motivating factors and majority populations. Findings indicate both service-learning and learning communities promoted the outcomes under investigation with mixed results among the others. Differences emerged by race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability status. We broadly discuss implications for higher education and future research.
Full version
Difficult Discourse and Critical Pedagogies: A Large-Scale Mixed-Methods Exploration of Faculty Practice
Hurtado, Sarah; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Sisaket, Lesley; Washington, Sylvia
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
Using critical pedagogy as our framework, this study?s purpose is to explore faculty members? ability to engage in difficult discourse with their students and their use of related critical pedagogies. The findings come from a large-scale multi-institution mixed-methods study to provide guidance for faculty to participate in this work.
Full version
Faculty Use of Collaborative Learning and Approaches to Learning: Examining Social Aspects of Online Learning
Hiller, Stephen; Nelson Laird, Thomas
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
This large-scale study expands knowledge of online teaching by comparing faculty practices around collaborative learning and deep approaches to learning in online and in-person courses. Findings indicate that online faculty emphasize deep approaches more than in-person, but use collaborative learning less. Implications for faculty and researchers are discussed.
Full version
Trial and Error: Socialization?s Failure to Teach Us How to Teach
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Hurtado, Sarah; Palmer, Dajanae; McCoy-Simmons, Casey
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
Socialization is a major component to faculty development, but without intentional direction it can fail to produce effective educators. The purpose of this large-scale mixed-methods study is to explore teaching influences, missed opportunities to prepare faculty for handling challenging teaching situations, and ways we can improve the socialization process. Results highlight the importance of faculty experiences as undergraduate and graduate students, the value of professional associations and conference participation, and the great range in faculty desires for professional development as educators. Potential implications include a focus on early socialization experiences, encouraging the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and providing equitable opportunities to support vulnerable populations.
Full version
Belonging, teaching environments, & grading: An exploration of faculty emotion
Fassett, Kyle; Nelson Laird, Thomas; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Strickland, Joe
POD Network Annual Conference, 2020, November.
The session provides an overview of faculty members? sense of belonging to their institutions, their sense of supportive teaching environments, and their thoughts about grading. Findings from our large-scale, multi-institutional study help faculty developers and other administrators better understand faculty members and how these affective constructs vary by faculty sub-groups. Participants will be invited to join in a conversation about the results and how the study?s findings could lead to providing better support to faculty members in their varied roles on college campuses.
Full version
Navigating difficult discourse: Understanding faculty strategies for challenging teaching situations
Hurtado, Sarah; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Sisaket, Lesley; Washington, Sylvia
POD Network Annual Conference, 2020, November.
Using critical pedagogy as a guide, we illuminate how educators can approach teaching in a way that humanizes students and encourages the examination of oppressive practices and ideologies through discourse centered on difficult topics. Presenters will offer insights from a large-scale mixed-methods study of faculty preparation for dealing with difficult situations in their courses and supporting students with complex concerns. This session will provide evidence-based practices and strategies to support the work of faculty and faculty developers in dealing with difficult situations involving incivility, disclosure of sensitive information, sexual assault, mental health, and other challenging topics.
Full version
No one taught me to teach: Preparation for challenging situations
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Hurtado, Sarah; McCoy-Simmons, Casey; Palmer, Dajanae
POD Network Annual Conference, 2020, November.
Socialization is often the mechanism through which faculty acquire knowledge of teaching behaviors, but teaching-related training can have a powerful impact on practice. This session will provide evidence-based practices and strategies to support the work of educational developers by sharing results from a large-scale, multi-institution mixed methods study asking faculty about influences on their teaching, examples of teaching-related training that has been useful, and training they wish they?d had. We will additionally share strategies faculty have used and how prepared faculty feel to deal with difficult situations in their courses such as student incivility and controversial events on campus.
Full version
Revisiting the Impact of LLCs on Student Engagement and Success
Fosnacht, Kevin, Gonyea, Robert M., Fassett, Kyle T., & Graham, P.
ACUHO-I Academic Initatives, Virtual, 2020, October.
Campus housing has changed markedly in recent years, prompting questions about its impact and the benefits of living-learning communities (LLCs) in particular. Sponsored by an ACUHO-I research grant, we surveyed a diverse, multi-campus sample of residents to study the relationships between LLC participation, engagement, perceived gains in learning and development, and persistence. Results affirm LLCs promote engagement in expected ways, but also point to areas for improvement. Implications for practice will be discussed.
Full version
Roommate Assignments: Managing The Process and Supporting Students of Color
Gonyea, Robert M., Graham, Polly, Fosnacht, Kevin, & Fassett, Kyle T.
ACUHO-I Business Operations Conference, Virtual, 2020, October.
Getting a roommate is one of the first milestones of a student?s campus experience. In the past decade, the rise of social media and online roommate-matching sites has changed how students find roommates, and the proportion of incoming students choosing their preferred roommate has increased. Lately, however, multiple institutions moved to requiring incoming students to have institutionally-assigned roommates in the hope of increasing cross-cultural interactions. We investigated this assertion using data from 76 schools participating in an ACUHO-I sponsored study. Results show that preventing students from choosing their own roommates is not an effective method of increasing interactional diversity. We also discovered that the policies can have negative consequences for students of color. Considering these findings, the NSSE research team makes recommendations for institutions.
Full version
All NSSE session recordings from the 2020 Assessment Institute are now available for viewing.
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
All NSSE staff and related session recordings from the 2020 Assessment Institute hosted by IUPUI, are now available for viewing.
- 05A Plenary Session and Panel Discussion
Teresa Leyba Ruiz, Glendale Community College; Stephen P. Hundley, IUPUI, Keston H. Fulcher, James Madison University; Natasha Jankowski, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and NILOA; Verna F. Orr, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and NILOA; Hamsa Marikar, Watermark - 07B* Advancing Institutional Assessment: Lessons from Excellence in Assessment 2020 Designees
Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); Frank Hall, Northwestern State University of Louisiana; Kristen Springer Dreyfus, East Carolina University (ECU); and Rebecca Lewis and Diane Waryas Hughey, The University of Texas at Arlington - 08D Dealing with Tough Moments: Assessing Faculty Preparation for Teaching Challenges
Kyle T. Fassett and Allison BrckaLorenz, Indiana University-Bloomington; and Sarah S. Hurtado, University of Denver - 09O NSSE?s 3rd Decade: Synthesizing Contributions and Highlighting New Emphases in Assessment and Student Engagement
Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); Robert Gonyea and Alexander McCormick, Indiana University-Bloomington - 12A Assessing HIP Quality: Evidence from the Literature and Students? Experience
Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); Brendan Duggan, Robert Gonyea, Alexander McCormick, and Samantha Silberstein, Indiana University-Bloomington - 13A Assessing the Faculty Role in High-Impact Practices
Kyle T. Fassett, Allison BrckaLorenz, and Thomas F. Nelson Laird, Indiana University-Bloomington - 14J Assessment with the Improvement of Student Learning as the End Goal
Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); Kathleen Gorski, Waubonsee Community College; Kathleen Gorski, Natasha Jankowski, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA); and Monica Stitt-Bergh, University of Hawai?I at M?noa - 15C Developing Culturally Responsive Multiple Assessments of Student Learning in Diversity-Inclusion-Social Justice (DISJ) Core Courses and National Survey Results (CECE and NSSE) to Advance Campus Conversations
Jesse Mills, Carole Huston, Paula Krist, and Antonieta Mercado, University of San Diego - 16B A Conceptual Framework and Strategies for Examining High-Impact Practices
Kyle T. Fassett, Indiana University-Bloomington - 18A Equity and Inclusivity in the Assessment of High-Impact Practices
Heather Haeger, California State University, Monterey Bay; and Allison BrckaLorenz, Indiana University-Bloomington - 20D Better Together: How Student Learning Outcomes Assessment and Faculty Development Can Partner to Strengthen Student Success
Pat Hutchings, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and Bay View Alliance (BVA); and Jillian Kinzie, Indiana University?Bloomington and National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA)
Assessing the Faculty Role in High-Impact Practices
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
High-impact practices are effective educational practices leveraged to improve student outcomes, and often faculty members are key to their facilitation. This session examines faculty roles in emphasizing students? participation and engaging students in these practices. We will share characteristics of faculty who encourage and partake in these activities with an emphasis on assessment practices for gathering more information about faculty experiences with high-impact practices. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from one another through sharing their own challenges and successes in measuring faculty involvement in high-impact practices and how they cultivate a culture of high-impact experiences on campus.
Full version
Dealing with tough moments: Assessing faculty preparation for teaching challenges
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Hurtado, Sarah
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
Faculty are increasingly placed in situations where they have to navigate difficult teaching situations (student incivility, disclosure of sensitive information, controversial events, etc.) and challenging conversations with students (sexual assault, racism, mental health, etc.). As such, it is important to examine faculty preparation for managing such situations, what strategies they implement when they encounter these concerns, and what related training they wish they had received. Findings from a large-scale quantitative and qualitative study of teaching challenges will guide a discussion about assessing and supporting faculty efforts to navigate difficult teaching situations through professional development programming.
Full version
Equity and Inclusivity in the Assessment of High-Impact Practices
Heager, Heather; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
As we seek to assess what works and what needs improvement in High-Impact Practices (HIPs), it is essential that we critically examine our assessment strategies and methodologies. Many assessment plans inadvertently overlook the experiences of diverse student populations and only focus on large, aggregate data that reflects the experiences of traditionally privileged, majority students. This session will focus on how to conduct more inclusive assessment, including specific strategies for: creating more inclusive survey questions, how to assess the experiences of small populations in order to improve the experiences of small populations, more equitable quantitative methods, and democratically engaged assessment strategies.
Full version
Survey Inclusivity: Centering Minoritized Groups in Survey Design
Priddie, Christen; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Assessment Institute, 2020, October.
The emergence of critical quantitative methodologies emphasizes the importance of using race-conscious approaches to highlight the centrality of race in student experiences, as a neutral approach can support a deficit framing. This session explores why it is important to center racially minoritized groups in survey design in order to move toward more equitable assessments of their experiences. Discussion will focus on an example of intentionally centering Black college student experiences in a quantitative study of collaborative learning and perceptions of campus climate with tips and strategies for participants to center racially minoritized voices in their own assessments.
Full version
How Do We Know Advising Is Done Well? Using NACADA Core Competencies to Assess Advising
Cole, James & Kinzie, Jillian
NACADA Annual Conference, 2020, October.
This sessions suggests how institutions can use NSSE & the Advising Module to:
* consider advising practice overall (are students experiencing quality advising to support learning, engagement and persistence?),
* assess the impact of advising aligned with NACADA standards,
* investigate differences in advising experiences by race/ethnicity, first generation status, gender identity, and disability status for their students, and
* determine if groups of students for example, those earning lower grades or who have lower intentions to return differ in their advising experiences.
View the recorded presentation
Full version
New insights into faculty advising: An overview of national patterns and trends
Fassett, Kyle; Woodlee, Kara M.; BrckaLorenz, Allison
NACADA Annual Conference, Virtual, 2020, October.
This session provides an overview of faculty advisors across the U.S. using a large-scale data-set from the 2019 administration of the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE). Presenters will share survey findings including an overview of the national landscape of faculty advisors, what faculty tend to emphasize during the advising process, and what can be done to support faculty in their roles as advisors. Participants will be invited to share their experiences collaborating between faculty and advising units. Implications for attendees will be highlighted through a large group discussion.?
Full version
High School Disrupted: First-Year Expectations of 2020 High School Graduates
Cole, J. S., & Kinzie, J.
Southern Association for Institutional Research, Virtual, 2020, October.
The COVID pandemic left no part of education untouched. Spring 2020 was clearly a dramatic shift for high schools, teachers, and students. With little online learning experience, this is the first entering class with increased responsibility for directing their own learning. This session highlights survey findings from thousands of 2020 high school graduates entering college. The study examines their high school learning experiences, college expectations and preparedness, as well as their feeling prepared to taking future online courses. The presenters will facilitate discussion among the participants about what we have collectively learned and how this can inform future plans.
Full version
Campus Housing, Student Engagement and Persistence
Gonyea, Robert; Fosnacht, Kevin; Graham, Polly; Fassett, Kyle
ACUHO-I 2020 Virtual Summit, 2020, June.
For the past three years, a team of researchers from the National Survey of Student Engagement has been studying the impact of residence life on first-year and sophomore students enrolled at 76 residential campuses. This session will overview their findings and make recommendations to improve practice. Topics covered include student engagement, living-learning programs, roommate selection, and persistence.
Full version
Lost at the crossing? Tips for assessing intersectional experiences
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Fassett, Kyle T.; Kirnbauer, Tom; Washington, Sylvia
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, 2020, May.
Faculty and administrators are often tasked with educating the whole student upon their arrival at college, so it is important to understand ways to assess the whole student. Often student demographics and characteristics are examined one at a time such as by examining differences by racial/ethnic, gender, or other known influences on the student experience. Disaggregating data in this way, allows us to better understand how different students understand and participate in their environment. This poster provides an overview of four different examples to better examine small populations with attention to intersections of identity.
Full version
Person-centered approaches to inclusive data analysis
BrckaLorenz, A., Kirnbauer, T., & Nelson Laird, T.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, New Orleans, LA., 2020, May.
Demographic questions are critical to our understanding of student and faculty experiences, allowing us to learn about marginalized subpopulations, find areas of inequity, and close gaps in achievement. Although this work is necessary, it does present challenges for critical and inclusive approaches to data analysis. Person-centered approaches, grouping people based on similar experiences or outcomes, allow for more nuanced stories of experiences. To illustrate the benefits of this approach, facilitators will guide participants through a series of examples using person-centered explorations, unpacking the challenges and possible solutions for using such methods for more critical and inclusive quantitative analyses and reporting.
Full version
What's next for student engagement and institutional assessment
Kinzie, J.; BrckaLorenz, A.; Gonyea, R.; Kirnbauer, T.; Sarraf, S.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, 2020, May.
Over the past 20 years, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) has helped institutional researchers gain insight into institutional quality. Further, a shifting higher education landscape requires institutional researchers to reconsider how assessment is conducted. NSSE continues to search for innovative ways to understand student engagement and serve as a valuable assessment tool for institutions. In this session, we will focus on three areas that impact institutional assessment: changing student demographics, developments in teaching and learning, and innovative approaches to assessment. The session will conclude with an active discussion with participants about the trends and possibilities at their institutions.
Full version
Senior international students' perceptions of gains while attending U.S. colleges
Oktafiga, D.; BrckaLorenz, A.
NAFSA 2020 Annual Conference & Expo, St. Louis, MO, 2020, May.
Using the 2015-2017 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data from senior college students (n=13,950), this study explores the variations of senior international students? perceptions of gains while attending 1,029 U.S. colleges/universities. Results indicate that seniors from the African Sub-Saharan region gained the most in terms of academic and personal skills while seniors from Canada perceived gains the least.
Full version
A multi-institutional study of teaching development opportunities and faculty practice
Fassett, K.; BrckaLorenz, A.; Hiller, S.; Nelson Laird, T.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Research on faculty teaching development is robust, with small-scale research studies on specific teaching development experiences or practices in particular fields. To contextualize the myriad of teaching development efforts available to faculty, this large-scale multi-institution study of nearly 4,500 faculty seeks to broaden our understandings of who participates in teaching development practices, how their participation relates to their institutional environments, and how their participation connects to use of effective teaching practices. Results show there are some notable trends by field, identity, the type of courses taught, and institutional characteristics. The overview of professional development participation in this study gives strength to positive findings from smaller-scale research studies and provides a solid base for more specific studies of these practices.
Full version
Are Black women faculty and Women of Color faculty synonymous?
Priddie, C.; Palmer, D.; Silberstein, S.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Black women faculty in the professoriate are often lumped into broader women of color categories when examining their experiences in academia. However, women of color are not a monolith and their experiences should be examined with disaggregation. The current study examined the time allocation of Black women faculty in relation to other women of color faculty to assess whether narratives compiling all women of color faculty together are appropriate. Results showed that Black women faculty differ in how they allocate their time in relation to their women of color counterparts. Our findings suggest that studies conducted aggregating the stories of women of color are not portraying the unique experience Black women faculty are facing.
Full version
Classifying higher education institutions by their general education requirements
Holcombe, E.; Nelson Laird, T.; Kwon, J.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
General Education (GE) curricula specify requirements, most often fulfilled through coursework, that undergraduate students need to satisfy in addition to and often preceding a specialized major or program. Due to the decentralized nature of the American higher education system and lack of national requirements or guidelines, however, GE requirements vary from one institution to another. This exploratory study investigates patterns of GE requirements among a selection of 154 institutions and determines whether and how institutions could be grouped or classified by their GE requirements. Our five-dimension typology is parsimonious and meaningfully distinguishes between GE patterns giving us insightful information about the values and goals of institutions that are not communicated through our traditional categorizations.
Full version
Collegial and departmental support matters: An exploration of teaching cultures and practice
Strickland, J.; Hengtgen, K.; BrckaLorenz, A.; Nelson Laird, T.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2020, April.
Even though many colleges and universities are increasingly supporting teaching and learning centers, SoTL, faculty learning communities, and other evidence-based teaching practices, uncertainty still remains regarding the impact of these practices and programs on quality student learning. Often colleges and universities simply give ?lip service to the idea? of good teaching, and yet lack organizational commitments and structures to truly support teaching. Using a large-scale, multi-institutional study of teaching cultures, this study explores faculty perceptions of commitment to quality teaching and faculty perceptions of departmental and institutional support for teaching. The results carry implications for departmental and institutional initiatives in support of teaching and the improvement of pedagogical practice towards equitable college student learning.
Full version
Developing transferable skills for the public good
Kirnbauer, T.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Transferable skills are crucial for undergraduates to be prepared to enter the workforce after college. Previous research has shown how effective educational approaches enhance student learning. There is, however, limited research that understands how the emphasis on transferable skills relates to the value of deep approaches to student learning. This paper analyzes how faculty emphasis of transferable skills, through analytical writing and problem-solving, is related to deep approaches to learning in higher education. Data come from a large-scale, multi-institutional study that surveys faculty at four-year institutions. Findings indicate that the intentional development of transferable skills has a positive relationship with emphases on deep approaches to learning. The study reinforces the importance of collaboration between multiple stakeholders to foster student learning.
Full version
Examining the relationship between faculty development opportunities and teaching practices
Fassett, K.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Teaching is arguably the lifeblood of higher education as students enroll in higher education institutions to learn new information. Faculty often partake in developmental opportunities that seek to improve their pedagogical practices and the student experience. Seeing the importance in understanding teaching, this study uses a multi-institution data set to examine the relationship between development opportunities and faculty use of effective teaching practices and course goals. Findings indicate that informal practices including discussing teaching with colleagues, speaking with students beyond course evaluations about classroom practices, and reading pedagogy books increased use of effective teaching practices. These findings have implications for faculty developers coordinating teaching development opportunities, administrators investing funding in development, and faculty who are looking to change their practices.
Full version
"Step it up": Increasing LGBTQ+ inclusivity in and out of class
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Duran, Antonio; Haeger, Heather; Velasquez, Selena
AAC&U's Diversity, Equity, and Student Success Conference, 2020, March.
Creating a positive campus climate for LGBTQ+ folx requires efforts both in-and out-of-class. The lack of representation/visibility of diverse experiences can be detrimental for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. To frame the discussion of LGBTQ+ inclusive courses and campuses, this session will utilize analyses from a large-scale, multi-institution quantitative and qualitative data set. This study examined student perceptions of the inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues in curricula and the relationship to other forms of engagement. We use individual?s write-in responses along with scholarship to guide an organic dialogue where participants share their experiences as well as learn strategies to bring back to their own communities.
Full version
Including mental wellness: A more holistic view of student success
Washington, S.; Brandon, J.; Holmes, B.; BrckaLorenz, A.
ACPA-College Student Affairs Educators International Convention, 2020, March.
To better support diverse student populations, this study uses large-scale, multi-institution survey data that focuses on students? mental wellness. Participants in this session will discuss the relationship that race and gender have on students? mental wellness, explore how adverse feelings affect student success, and gain insight into students? awareness of how to get help. Implications will focus on holistic and proactive solutions.
Full version
Student Living Arrangements: An Exploration of Marginalized Identities
Fassett, Kyle T.; Gonyea, Robert M.; Graham, Polly A.; Fosnacht, Kevin
ACPA-College Student Affairs Educators International Convention, Nashville, TN, 2020, March.
While past research found on-campus living to benefit student success, recent studies find mixed support, particularly for marginalized groups. This study focuses on first-year and sophomore students of color, LGBQ+ students, gender non-binary students, and students with disabilities, analyzing where they live as related to a variety of outcomes. Data come from 76 residential colleges and universities that participated in NSSE during 2018. Results show differences in where students report living and students? engagement and perceptions of belongingness and safety in their living communities.
Full version
Campus Housing, Student Engagement and Persistence
Gonyea, Robert; Fosnacht, Kevin
ACUHO-I State of the Profession, New Orleans, LA, 2020, February.
This presentation summarizes recent research examining the direct and indirect relationships of first-year and sophomore students' living arrangements on student engagement and persistence.
Full version
Student engagement and institutional assessment: Current trends and future possibilities
McCormick, A., Kinzie, J., BrckaLorenz, A., Gonyea, R., Sarraf, S.
Association of American Colleges & Universities Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2020, January.
With the National Survey of Student Engagement marking its 20th year, we invite participants to explore the trends and possibilities of engagement as a lens for examining institutional quality. This session, conducted as a research town hall, will focus on three broad areas:
1. Changing demographics?What are the emerging demographics on your campus? How will new kinds of students challenge and shape what we know about engagement?
2. Developments in teaching and learning?Do current measures of engagement adequately cover what is essential to the improvement of student learning? What new forms of engagement should we assess?
3. Approaches to assessment?What trends should a large-scale survey assessment project consider over the next decade to facilitate evidence-informed improvement?
After briefly introducing each topic, the presenters will facilitate an active discussion with participants about the trends and possibilities at their institutions and in higher education overall.
Full version